On Tuesday 20 September, the thirteenth edition of the National Foal Auction Prinsjesdag took place. Under the guidance of auctioneer Hans Sinnige, 63 extremely talented foals were sold. The chestnut stallion Ap-Art, that was bred for show jumping, was absolutely top foal: this product of the hallmark stallion Quidam de Revel was bred by Mr. Kessels of Meerlo and, for the sum of € 49,000, became the property of Mr. Cornelissen and Mr. Althuijzen of Sint Anthonis.

Ap-Art is a son of Quidam de Revel out of the Nimmerdor daughter Maravola. She is a full sister of Garavola, the mare with which Leon Thijssen caused international furore in show jumping. This colt foal is thus an outstanding example of the type of foals that the National Foal Auction Prinsjesdag puts on offer for their clientele under the motto ‘the power of performance’. All the other foals too, selected for their sport potential, conformation and movement, were considered just as desirable in the KNHS Centre in Ermelo which was packed with visitors. For Jump (sire: For Pleasure) and Ajax (sire: Contender) both changed ownership for € 25,000 each. Annalita (sire: Argentinus) was sold for € 21,000. Ancara of the VDL Stud, the filly foal out of the twofold stallion dam Zancara, went for as much as € 43,000. This was the most expensive filly foal and was acquired by Gerrit Deen of Enkhuizen. Amongst the dressage foals, Androdine was one of the keenly desired products: this daughter of Sandro Hit went for as much as € 19,500 and Abamba (sire: Sandro Hit I), the product out of the same dam as Zalzatime who was the top foal of the 2004 auction, went under the hammer for € 22,000.

What was remarkable was the high prices that buyers were prepared to lay down for well-bred filly foals. On average that came to € 11,075. Apparently buyers are prepared to pay rather high prices for valuable genetic material of future breeding mares. The average price for the colt foals was € 12,435. The average total per foal worked out at € 11,744.